Sudden Storm Results in Narrow Escapes On the Coast, April 26, 1893

In the mid morning of April 26, 1893, a severe snow and windstorm arose suddenly and resulted in some narrow escapes from disaster. The storm raged with some violence for the remainder of the day with winds reported up to 27 mph at Charlottetown but were likely much higher on the waters of Northumberland Strait and Hillsborough Bay.

The steamers plying between Charlottetown to Pictou, NS and Summerside to Point du Chene in New Brunswick had difficult trips and the weather was so thick the crews couldn’t see from one end of the ships to the other.

At Canoe Cove four boats were reported missing from Donald Farquharson’s factory and a Mr. MacLean of Canoe Cove of Canoe Cove reported 3 boats missing from his son’s factory at Canoe Cove and 3 more from Livingstone’s Factory at the same location.

Figure 1: Canoe Cove, 1880 Atlas

James Johnston of Victoria went fishing herring in the morning and was caught by the storm and ended up landing at Thomas Inches’ shore about 2 miles from Crapaud. He had 7 barrels on herring on board.

On the morning of April 27^th, Abram Howatt and Charles Clarke landed at Brian’s lobster factory Black Point, after they spend the entire night out in the storm. Mr. Howatt was unable to speak and the doctor from Crapaud travelled to Black Point to assist.

Figure 2 :Black Point, DeSable, PEI, 1880 Atlas

The Schooner, Rising Dawn with Capt. John Hughes Jr. in control, left Charlottetown for Pictou for a load of coal in the morning of the 26^th and was lost at Merigomish Harbour, NS in the afternoon or evening. The crew was saved. The Schooner Annabelle, Capt. Bisson, also left Charlottetown about the same time as the Rising Dawn and went ashore at Cariboo, NS with 2 feet of water in her hold.

At 9:00 on the morning of April 26^th, the tug, Fred M. Batt left Charlottetown for Flat River with supplies for the Portland Packing Company (lobster cannery). The northwest wind caused severe difficulties about 8 miles past Point Prim, and they turned back towards Charlottetown. On the way back they spotted a small sailboat with 2 onboard who were in great difficulty. The tug was able to get close enough to the boat to load the two passengers and the sailboat was towed behind into Charlottetown. The men on the sailboat were from Halifax County, NS and had been setting lobster traps near St. Peter’s Island when the storm came up suddenly and started to blow them across the bay. One of the men, Edward May reported they had left McLean’s Factory to set traps at 7:00am and about 8:30 to 9:00 am it began to snow heavily, and they started the journey back to the factory when about 9:30 the wind came up causing the boat to start taking on water. The wind was driving the waves and sleet  at their boat in huge waves and clouds making it difficult to bail out the boat and keep them from sinking. They anchored about 4 miles off St. Peter’s Island where they eventually were picked up by the tug.

The lobster boats used as the time used sails, so they were very prone to impact from the wind and high waves and they had a low profile in the water which can be visualized in Figure 4.

Figure 3: Charlottetown Harbour & Hillsborough Bay Area Google Earth

After the tug picked up the 2 men it continued towards Charlottetown Harbour and about mid way between Point Prim and St. Peter’s Island they sighted another small sailboat which was being tossed around by the storm. This boat was filled with water and men on board were exhausted and one of them had to be heaved on board the tug with a  heaving line due to his weak condition. The boat belonged to Livingstone’s Lobster Factory, Black Point and was occupied by Frank McCormack and Fred Cheverie of Souris, who were out setting lobster traps.

Frank McCormack had a similar story to Mr. May. They had left the Factory at 7:00am  to set traps with very little wind blowing at the time. Then the snow began to fall in earnest and the wind increased to blow at a tremendous speed. They headed for St. Peter’s Island and on the way met another boat for the  Factory occupied by Joseph Campbell and Robert Steele of Souris. After anchoring near St. Peter’s Island, they saw another boat from Souris occupied by Robbie Perry and Dan Kennedy, and they told MacCormack and Cheverie to reef their sails and go with them which they decided to do. The wind was too heavy, so they headed back to St. Peter’s Island. About 3 miles from this Island another Souris boat occupied by Frank and Neal Deagle were tied securely to a lobster buoy. About 45 minutes later they sighted the tug, and  they went on board. The snow and sleet were blowing over them in clouds and their boat was half filled with water.

It certainly was a close call for all those involved and the small, low profile lobster boats at the time used sails for navigation so were very susceptible to high gusting winds.

Figure 4: PEI Fishing Boat pre-1910, PEI Archives Collection

Sources: The Examiner, April 27, 1893; Meacham’s 1880 Atlas of PEI; Google Earth Pro, 2024; PEI Archives, Grand Tracadie Collection

Climate Summary for November 2023

A PEI climate summary for November 2023 is now available by clicking on the following link.

Click to access pei-climate-summary-november-2023.pdf

Low Tides Help Oyster Fishermen, October 1934

Hundreds of oyster fishermen were busy in late October 1934 harvesting oysters along the Hillsborough River near Charlottetown. They were out on the flats of the river picking oysters at low tide before daylight and their lights created a twinkling appearance which was a very unusual sight.

Sources: Guardian, October 27, 1934; October 25, 1934.

Weather Related Information from Benjamin Chapple Diary & Other Sources, 1775

Benjamin Chapple was born in London, England on March 5, 1740 and was trained by his father Richard Chapple, as a wheelwright and machinist. He was raised in the Church of England by his parents.  In the fall of 1774 the Ship, “Snow Elizabeth” landed on the north shore of the Island of St. John in eastern Canada with a load of settlers including Benjamin Chapple and his wife, Elizabeth. They settled in the New London area and built a home near Yankee Hill Cemetery on the west side of the harbour entrance at a village called Elizabethtown (French River area).

Mr. Chapple began keeping a journal of his observations in living his life in this new settlement. His first entry was in January 1775 and excerpts for 1775 which mention something about the weather or natural features are given below. Some data from other sources is also provided and these are shown in italics.

January 19^th: Myself in woods with Geddes squaring timber for ye counting-house. Foster, Parratt, and Cooper ordered to go to Great Rustico to fetch our lower cargo. Coming over our own bay, they broke in and two horses drowned. Mens lives saved, bless God.

February 2^nd: Owing to the early cold, the vessel by which he intended to send dispatches is frozen in. Is trying to induce men to attempt passage to Nova Scotia in a small canoe. If this succeeds it will open a communication with the Island in winter.

February 11^th: Very short of provisions. No rum, no bread, no meat, no beer, no sugar in ye stores. Mr. Allan set out for Lawsons at Stanhope.

February 28^th: The first winter mail service to Nova Scotia was successful using a small canoe. This was inaugurated by Governor Patterson. (A.B. Warburton, 1923)

March 3^rd: Arrived Mr. Allan from Stanhope with ½ barrel of rum, 3 of flour, 1 of pork, no more. ( This journey would be about 40 km one way and it took Mr. Allan 20 days to complete).

March 16^th: Thomas Anvil corked ye great whale boat in order for sea.

March 19^th: It is observed that the sea in our bay is open and clear of ice that ships may go out or come with ease and entire safety.

March 22^nd: Myself at shop making a compass standard for Mr. Allan and a scuttle for ye horse. Stormy coarse weather. Very little or no work done.

April 5^th: Building a boat with Geddes and Jersey but hindered for a day by the great fire which began at Joseph Rooks and covered many hundred acres. (forest fire)

May 9^th: Concluded not to remove, but to trust God for food. Setting up ye garden pales and making boxes for cabbages.

May 12^th: People are gardening.

May 16^th: Being short of provisions we went to Winter’s Cove (Cavendish) for oysters. Ye storm such we could not get back.

May 17^th: Brought home boat loaded with oysters. Set to work to make Mrs. MacDonald’s coffin.

May 20^th: Went over the bar fishing and took 30 cod fish.

May23rd: Geddes and myself went up a river by Winters for fowl, but found little.

(William Winter was an army officer who was granted lot 23 by Governor Patterson and lived at Cavendish)

August 15^th: At Pinette, an intense storm destroyed a ship that was destined to Pictou, Nova Scotia.

Nov. 1^st & 2^nd: During the night of Nov 1 and 2nd the wind shifted and started blowing hard and drove the vessel out to sea. The gale was coming from the NE and blew hard for 3 days and nights.

Nov. 5^th: Ship Elizabeth runs aground during storm. See other post on this website. https://peiclimate.wordpress.com/2022/03/23/brig-elizabeth-wrecked-at-cascumpec-sand-hills-pei-november-5-1775/

Nov.11^th: I reach home though weather was bad.

Nov. 16^th: A wicked storm and could do little.

Nov. 17^th: Collecting firewood, then finishing Mr. Allen’s bed, sharpening my handsaw $ began a Windsor chair for Mrs. Chapple. Charlottetown taken (by American privateers, who kidnapped Phillips Callbeck, acting Governor and Thomas Wright, surveyor-general).

Dec. 2^nd: Mr. Douglas’s new schooner ran ashore on the Sand Point at noon day.

Sources: The Oldest Diary of Prince Edward Island, by Ada MacLeod, Dalhousie Review, ; A History of PEI by A.B. Warburton, 1923.

Prince Edward Island Weather and Climate Observations, October 1770 and May, 1771

On October 24, 1770, Patterson wrote to Lord Hillsborough, Secretary of State in England and here are some notes from this letter in which he mentioned the climate. Mr. Patterson was appointed Governor of St. John’s Island on July 14, 1769.
• Patterson arrived on the Island on August 30th , 1770, and had been helping to build a house and mentions the good quality of soil, grain, roots, etc.
• The timber near Charlottetown, not of much use; but in other parts of the Colony there are oak and large pines in the plenty; wild fowl in the bays and woods.
• The beasts are mainly bears, foxes, otters, wild cats of a very large size, hares, martens, squirrels and mice. The mice appear in large numbers once in 7 years and destroy what little grain was available.
• Scarcity of fish near Charlottetown, except in spring; In October, 1770 there were lobsters and oysters, but neither was very good.
• The climate is good. The soil is fertile if the island is properly cared for.
Rev. William Drummond made some observations of the weather on Prince Edward Island during his travels mainly in the Stanhope and adjacent areas.
May 4, 1771: This whole day south wind and heavy rain, about 11am a whaling sloop from Nantucket ran aground off Little Hastings {Rustico?} harbor.
May 6, 1771: Excessively cold this day and night such as I never saw in May.
May 12, 1771: Quartered with Mr. Davidson. Preached this day in Mr. Kerms house. This whole day clear and fine weather.
Rev. Drummond’s Journal ends on this date.
The following note is from Walter Patterson, Governor of the Colony of St. John’s Island.
May 23, 1771: The advantageous report he made about the climate on October 24, 1770 was confirmed. He had been doing experiments on gardening and agriculture this spring. He had also brought in legislation to regulate fishing of sea cows.

Sources: Report on Canadian Archivers, by Douglas Brymner, 1895, Ottawa, Canada; The Island Register, Dave Hunter, https://www.islandregister.com/drummond.html, 2000.

Raging Storm Causes Heavy Damage for Lobster Fishermen, June, 1944

Mr. A.B. MacAdam of Morell had 700 new traps and operated 3 boats during the lobster season of 1944. A raging storm hit the province on June 13^th, 1944. He had moved the gear to shallow water before the storm and out of the 700 traps , he landed only 200, the other 500 were swept away. This is the worst loss to fishermen of Morell in years. Mr. MacAdam reported that $700 of brand new rope were carried away and that he lost $1500 worth of new gear.

It appears that the storm being referenced occurred on June 13, 1944 when several fishermen from the Richibucto / Caraquet area of New Brunswick drowned in Northumberland Strait. Two men from Cape Traverse, PEI also drowned near Cheticamp, Cape Breton during the same storm. The men, James Jeffrey and George D. Irving were working for Lloyd Inman of the  Island Sea Food Company of Borden, PEI. It was believed that they had set out from Cheticamp and were heading to Souris, PEI when their 46 foot boat, the Watamba, capsized. There was a violent storm raging at the time. Their badly damaged boat washed ashore after the storm at Margaree, Cape Breton on June 18th.

Sources: Guardian, July 12, 1944; Guardian, June 14, 1944; Guardian, June 21, 1944.

PEI Annual Climate Summary for 2022

A summary of PEI climate data from the year 2022 is available from the attached pdf file. This report contains a full year of data from the UPEI and other stations installed in 2021. The year 2022 will be remembered as the year that Post Tropical Storm Fiona did substantial damage across the province. It also had above normal temperatures for most months and the entire year. Precipitation was above normal in most areas with lower amounts in west Prince County.

annualsummary2022-1Download

Late Summer Conditions Eastern Kings County, 1906

A correspondent for the Guardian newspaper describes the weather, crop conditions, and fishing up to early September, 1906.

• A few fields of grain are cut. The crop will not be a large one.
• From Basin Head West fish  catches have been made, east from that and along the north shore there has been nothing doing. Mackerel fishing was a failure.
• A few Gloucester, Massachusetts seiners are still cruising around East Point, searching for survivors of the slaughter, but their success has been small.
• Elisha Baker, one of the few surviving persons who was fishing off Cascumpec, PEI in a small 47-ton schooner, the Abigail Gold, during the Yankee Gale of 1851, was experiencing failing health.
• During the Yankee Gale, Elisha Baker’s neighbour, John R. Morrow, Capt. Cushing ( a brother-in-law of Morrow from Portland, Maine) and three sons were drowned in the American schooner, Fair Play, off Tracadie Beach, PEI

Sources: Guardian, Sept. 7, 1906; Islander newspaper, Oct. 17, 1851.

Climate Change Observations at North Rustico by the Bearded Skipper

Norman Peters was widely known across Prince Edward Island and neighbouring provinces as the bearded skipper. He lived in North Rustico and was a keen observer of environmental issues.

Background: Norman has fished out of North Rustico for the past 46 years.  He is interested in environmental issues and has been observing changes over the years. He is the chair of the Rustico Harbour Authority and also started the fisheries museum at Rustico Harbour.

Figure 1 – Norman Peters, North Rustico, 2011

Storm Surges: Norman believes that the Dec. 21, 2010 storm surge was as bad as any he has observed over the years. The surge occurred at high tide during a severe northeast storm. The seas were chalk white during the storm and a biologist told him that between the big waves, that the bottom of the Gulf was exposed causing a lot of sediment to be moved around. He noted that the sand from a lot of the dunes in the area was sucked seaward causing a major change in dune profiles. He mentioned that some DFO scientists placed some traps out in 60 to 70 feet of water to test biodegradable twine. They couldn’t find their traps after this storm. He and his wife went for a drive on the Gulf Shore Road toward Cavendish during the storm and at High Cape they noticed that the waves were hitting the bank halfway up the cliffs and the overspray went over the top of the cliffs.

Figure 2 – waves hitting cliffs at High Cape – December 21, 2010

His uncle told him about a storm which occurred in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s which also was quite severe.

Norman does see a trend that the storms have been getting worse in the past few years especially the storm surges which were not that common years ago.

Sea Level / Tides: Mr. Peters believes that the tides are higher now than what he has seen in the past. This along with the storm surges is making the situation more serious.

Sea Ice:  In the past there has nearly always been a cover of ice on the Gulf and the Harbour into Rustico. He recalls fishing with his uncle in the 1960’s when there were a lot of ice cakes around and ice pans in the Gulf. One year during the early 1960’s the fisherman had just set their traps when a big sheet of pan ice came ashore and sheared off everything in its path. He said the fishing gear including traps, ropes  and buoys were scattered everywhere and fishermen like Al Smith would pull out any gear they found and place it on the wharf for other fishermen to come and pick out their equipment.
Years ago the springs seemed cool and icy versus the past two springs when they had no ice in the Gulf or in the North Rustico Harbour.

Shoreline Erosion: He mentioned a beach which used to be frequented by the local residents by the crib work in front of the lighthouse which is now completely gone due to erosion of sand in the area. The breakwater was reinforced by Chapman Brothers about 6 or 7 years ago during the winter months. They placed over 4000 tonnes of armour rock from the mainland under the supervision of Bruce Stanley the engineer for Public Works Canada and himself. Some of the cobble from the breakwater is now in the channel leading into the harbour as proven by some probing in recent years.

Fishing: He fished lobsters out of North Rustico this past May and June and from talking with the local fishermen, he would say that catches are down up to 40 per cent in some areas. He has talked to fishermen in Covehead and Souris and they also report poor catches this year. One observation this past season was the tremendous fluctuation in water temperature from one day to the next. He observed temperature changes of up to 9 degrees from one day to the next. This is something he has not observed previously. He said that lobsters do not move much when the temperatures are cold and this is probably a factor in the poor catches this year.

Source: Norman Peters Interview by Don Jardine, August 5, 2011

Note: Norman died on April 16, 2018 on his 76th birthday.

Climate Change Observations at Rusticoville by Joey Gauthier

Background: Joey was brought up in Rusticoville and has been fishing lobsters for around 40 years. He also operates Joey’s Deep Sea Fishing by the bridge in Rusticoville and operates a takeout restaurant. He has been placing the buoys to mark the channel into North Rustico and Rusticoville and has been doing this for the past 30 years.  

Figure 1 Joey’s Deep Sea Fishing Sign 2011

Storm Surges: Joey mentioned that the Dec. 21, 2010 storm surge was the worst he has seen in a long time. This surge ruined his wharf and caused a loss of about 8 feet of his bank. He had placed gabion baskets after another severe storm in September about 8 to 10 years ago but the waves still eroded his bank. Joey mentioned that there was another bad storm about 40 years ago which caused similar damage.

Sea Level / Tides: In the last five years he has observed that there is no real low tide at Rusticoville anymore. He said they mostly have high and higher tides. When he replaced his wharf this past spring, he made it a foot higher to allow for sea level rise and storm surges.

Sea Ice:  There has been basically no ice in the harbour or the Gulf the last few years. They haven’t had pan ice or any big ice from up north enter the Gulf in many years. The lobster boats have not been held back due to ice in the past few years.

Shoreline Erosion: As mentioned  he lost 8 feet of bank in the Dec. 21, 2010 storm and probably about 10 feet in the bad storm about 10 years ago. This storm caused him to lose a fence he had placed along the shore. He has also observed a lot of erosion on Robinson’s Island. During his lifetime at least 3 miles of this Island has been lost due to erosion.

Siltation: The severe erosion in recent years has caused a lot of sedimentation in the channel into Rustico, throughout Rustico Bay and upriver as far as New Glasgow. North Rustico used to be one of best harbours on PEI when he started fishing but the silt and sediment has basically ruined it. One example are the buoys he placed to mark the channel by Robinson’s Island into Rustico Harbour back in early May. The buoys were placed in 10 feet of water and today they are on a sand bar at low tide. The sand and sediment eroding from Robinson’s Island is moving westward at a rapid pace.

Fishing: When he started fishing 40 years ago a good year lobster fishing would be 7000 to 8000 lbs. In recent years some fisherman harvested 40,000 lbs and a fisherman needs 20,000 lbs just to pay the bills. The cost of supplies has gone up and one example is the cost of fuel for his boat. When he started fishing the fuel cost 30 cents per gallon, today the cost is $1.10 per litre. The past spring was not as good as previous years and this may have something to do with the temperature of the water. This year the highest temperature he has seen so far is about 66 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature has been fluctuating and an example is this past Wednesday, August 3^rd when during a thunder storm the water temperature dipped to 56 degrees. He said that normally at this time in August the water temperature would 70 degrees or more.

Groundwater / Salt Water Intrusion: Most of the older wells in the area near his business are shallow ranging in depth from 15 to 18 feet. These wells were hand dug and have little or no casing. A few years ago he drilled a new well for his business and the drillers had to put in 120 feet of casing to seal out salty water. Joey said that he had a well on the property which was 60 feet deep and when the tide was low, the water was fresh and during high tide the water turned salty.

Source: Interview of Joey Gauthier, by Don Jardine, August 5, 2011